


Panem Cruises

by Alliswell



Category: Hunger Games Series - All Media Types, Hunger Games Trilogy - Suzanne Collins
Genre: A Candle for the Caribbean, Age Difference, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Caribbean fic, Everlark in a Cruise Ship, Everyone is OOC in this one, F/M, Re-edited, Secret Crush
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-18
Updated: 2018-05-15
Packaged: 2019-03-29 22:36:35
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 14,187
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13936860
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Alliswell/pseuds/Alliswell
Summary: Peeta has been with Panem Cruises for a very long time, enjoying his bachelorhood to the max, but when a fellow crew woman bumps into him in a compromising situation, everything changes. There’s this one problem, he can’t make a good impression on this girl no matter how hard he tries. Could all this mishaps ever end well?My contribution for “A Candle for the Caribbean” charity collection, benefiting the countries affected by Hurricane Maria. (Re-edited)





	1. I

**Author's Note:**

> This is a work of fan fiction. None of the characters depicted in this piece belong to me. 
> 
> Unbetaed and Re-edited. Mistakes are all mine.

The sun is bright and high in the sky. Not a stormy cloud to be seen in the horizon. The salty breeze fills our nostrils while the seagull cries mixed with the sound of the sea serve as melodic background. I’m standing in the middle of the Mockingjay deck, wearing a tuxedo in the 98 degree heat of the Caribbean Sea at 11 a.m.

“Glorious day for a wedding, Peet!” Calls my best friend and the newly appointed Captain of the ship, Finnick Odair, taking his place in front of me. “I told you finding _The One_ would change you!”

He’s right of course, in both fronts. I don’t care if I die of a heatstroke, for the woman I love is worth it, today _is_ a beautiful day to get hitched!  

 

~*~

 

The first time I saw _her_ , I was having a doozy of a day: The ship’s Sou Chef, a gruff lady the kitchen staff had nicknamed ‘Greasy Sae’, fired my Boulanger even though we had just left Florida, and were day and a half away from the next port.

Normally I wouldn’t be bothered by it, I grew up the son of a baker and learned the ropes from my old man. Baking rolls every once in awhile is good for me, reminds me of my roots, keeps me humble. Plus, cruise ship crew come and go pretty much from port to port, but this happened right when my second best baker was ill with food poisoning, leaving me to pick up all the bread needs for the whole main dining room. It was unfortunate for food poisoning guy too since he would’ve gotten an instant promotion if hadnt been glued to the small toilet he shared with his cabin mates.

As soon as my station was cleaned up, the wine list checked twice and the next day’s dessert menu decided upon, I headed out to the crew bar below deck. The place was already bumping when I arrived. It was karaoke time and the booze was running freely already, encouraging people to torture everybody with their awful renditions of ‘Girls Wanna Have Fun” or something in that vein. It wasn’t surprising to have this kind of night, alcohol in the crew bar was dirt cheap and plenty, and as the song says, girls (and boys) just want to have fun.

After procuring myself a Corona and a cup of lemon wedges, I sat in a table back in the far corner of the room. I usually enjoyed being part of the celebration and watching people lose their inhibitions on karaoke hour, but that night I was on edge, the whole Boulanger situation frustrated me. My shoulder and back muscles ached and all I could do was commiserate with myself like a little bitch.

“Hey stranger!” Sing sang a chirpy voice, before a set of voluminous boobs inundated my eyesight. “I haven’t seen you in like a week,” whined the voice.

I lifted my eyes from the rack in front of me, to find Glimmer, day time Water Games Specialists/night time background singer for the in-house band on the Mockingjay Lounge, staring back at me with reddened green eyes. She looked at me like I was her next meal. Judging by her red rimmed eyes, she had obviously been drinking a while, but I smiled at her accepting her company because she was exactly what the doctor had ordered for my stress.

She wasn’t wrong either, we hadn’t seen each other in a week or so.

My friend, Finnick, gave me a drunken advice when I first joined Panem Cruises:

 _“Fuck ‘em all, Peety, before you find The One. ‘Cause when you find_ her _, you won’t get it up for anyone else. The One will change you for the better.”_

I remember vividly how his glazed sea green eyes stared at the picture of his wife, Annie, with this forlorn, lovesick expression, while the rest of the crew paired up left and right without much thought and headed to more private spaces, to carry on with their nightly activities.

I was no lothario, and whatever people do during long days at sea, I wasn’t completely different, I’d just set up strict rules for myself. 

I never had multiple sex partners in the ship, but there were occasional one-night-stands once in a blue moon. It’s fairly common to see crew and officers shack up together to pass the lonely nights, but not everyone does, I wasn’t one of those and didn’t judged the ones who did it. While others preferred one-nighters because they could, I tried to stick to a few regulars. If the body needs a release, the crew bar is the place to hook up at. Guests are always out of bounds per company policy, but it just makes sense to keep business separate from pleasure, plus if a cruise employee gets found mingling with a guest outside hosting duties, it’s basis for an immediate termination of contract, which is what happened to my idiot Boulanger that day.

Glimmer was saying something I didn’t quite catch, but her hand sliding up my thigh and her flirty smile turning into a cute pout, told me all I need to know. I finished my beer in one pull, and stood up, dragging her to her feet with me.

“Wanna go to my cabin?” I asked her without preamble, she had been there enough times in the last year to pretend she came looking to have a deep conversation with me.

She nodded eagerly.

We didn’t make it far. She pushed me against the wall not five feet from the corridor leading to my cabin. In a minute, her tongue was tickling the back of my throat, and her fingernails were scratching my scalp almost painfully.

In a swoop move, I turned us around so her back was against the wall. I had three fingers knuckle-deep inside her, and despite her mouth being busy with mine, she was getting louder with every pump of my hand. Glimmer tore her lips from mine to pant raggedly into the hall, “God! I can’t wait to have your big cock inside my pussy,”

There was a loud gasp neither of us produced.

We startle-jumped away from each other, but my hand was still very obviously stuck inside Glimmer’s tight jeans, and no matter how much I tried to shake it free, my whole arm was trapped and not budging at all.

“I’m so sorry,” the intruder said, scurrying away as fast as she could.

“Shit!” I hissed finally tugging my hand free. “That can’t be good.” I said lowly.

“Mmm, Peeta… we should go inside your cabin now,” said Glimmer in a controlled voice. She was closed, still very horny and starting to get frustrated. I could tell by how she rubbed her legs together. The problem was, I had lost all of my drive.

I took a deep breath. “I’m sorry Glim, but I don’t think that’s such a good idea right now.”

“Come on, Peeta, it won’t take a moment, and we’ll be back on track. I’ll get on my knees so you can fuck me from behind as hard as you’d like. It’ll be amazing, what do you say?” Her clever fingers played with the buttons of my chef shirt, and I realized I never changed out of my uniform, my name was clearly displayed on my chest.

Whoever just cockblocked us, could report me for public exposure. Although it wasn’t against the rules to have a relationship with a fellow crew member, there was a misconduct clause in our contracts.

“Shit!” I hissed for the second time that night. “I gotta go Glim. I’ll make it up to you soon. I promise. Tonight, I won’t be any good.”

“Fine!” She half yelled, “I’m going back to the bar, to see if I can find Cato.”

  
I shrugged, I couldn’t tell if that was supposed to be a threat or what. “You do what you must, Glim. Have fun.”

She huffed in frustration and stomped off cursing under her breath. I turned to my own room. It wasn’t as if we were together or anything. Glimmer and I slept together a lot, but we weren’t exclusive, so I wasn’t sure why was she so pissed off I didn’t recanted my refusal to keep on going when she mentioned her plans to find another cock to ride.

But the closer I got to my cabin, the more I wished I had listened to her, because I could feel a nasty headache coming on top of my still pent up stress. I was looking at another 11 hour shift the next day, with two less people in my team.

I was twisting my doorknob, when the door next to mine yanked open.

The surprised expression on _Her_ face when she saw me standing there was aking to a deer in crosshairs, but it was her big gray eyes what forever got branded on the back of my retinas.

Although her eyes were vaguely familiar, I could’ve sworn I had never seen such a color, or such a lovely face before; she was some exotic beauty I couldn’t stop staring at.

  
Her cheeks reddened so fast and deep, I started to get worried. We were a Caribbean cruise ship after all, and temperatures could get very hot in the crew decks.

“Hi there, are you alright? Can I get you anything? I have bottled water in my cabin—“

“No! I-I’m fine. Thank you anyway, Chef Mellark.” Her voice was soft, with a touch of raspiness that just sounded angelic to my ears.

I gave her my most winning smile, the one my friend Johanna had nicknamed ‘the panty dropper’, and without really meaning to, started flirting with the poor thing where she stood, “Oh, is no problem at all, but I do find it unfair, that  you know my name, yet I don’t know yours. You’re either a seer or a siren, miss…?”

Her beautiful gray eyes grew as big as saucers, “I-I didn’t mean—“

Three things happened at once when she started to explain herself: First, I recognized the inflection of her voice, she sounded as flustered then as she did when she interrupted Glim and I, which immediately reminded me I was still wearing my blasted uniform with my named stitched to it, so of course she knew my name! And to think I had been so proud of myself the day I got a shirt with my name embroidered on. Third, a blond version of ‘cockblocker girl’ came bounding down the corridor just then, calling out loudly, and that’s how I learned _Her_ name.

“Katniss, what’s taking so long?” The blond asked just as she reached us. “Rue just went to bed and Bonnie and Twill keep trying to get beers from that bartender, Woof, claiming there’s no drinking age limit on international waters.”

I was both embarrassed and ticked off at the whole situation, so I tried for my door again, just to realize I hadn’t unlock it yet. To add insult to injury, the newcomer blonde noticed me and started talking excitedly.

“Oh my gosh! You finally met! Isn’t that great? Chef Mellark, right? My sister pretty much has memorized your bio page in the Panem Cruises website. It’s so awesome she finally got to introduce herself, since you’ve been neighbors for the last five months and all.” She paused for a moment, and narrowed her baby blue eyes at- her _sister_?- “You did introduce yourself, right? That’s why you’re taking forever to come back, am I right?”

One glance at her, _Katniss_ , was enough to know she was as mortified as I was confused.

“Prim, the chef is tired. Why don’t we get out of his hair and let him be?” Katniss suggested softly, and judging by blondie’s- _Prim‘s_ \- reaction, there was a subtle edge of authority in her voice.

Prim nodded slowly. “Have a nice night chef Mellark!” She said more cautiously.

Katniss cleared her throat nervously and grimaced before giving me a stiff nod. She wouldn’t meet my eyes; I knew we were both thinking of what she accidentally interrupted earlier, how she ruined my plans for the night.

I still couldn’t decide how I felt about the whole situation. On the one hand it really wasn’t her fault, it was mine and Glimmer’s for being so inpatient; on the other hand, I still needed some kind of release, but now I was embarrassed, uncomfortable, headachy and a little worried that she’d file a complaint against me, because so far, I hadn’t given her a stelar impression of myself.

To save face, I smiled warmly while feeling shaky all over, “Have a wonderful rest of your night ladies,” I said slipping inside my room and marching straight to my tiny shower, praying tomorrow would be kinder.

 

* * *

 

My second best baker reported for duty after being holed up in his cabin for close to 27 hours, looking sallow and about 5 lbs. thinner, he was declared ‘fit for work’ by the onboard physician.

Greasy Sae helped me with some of my own duties as well, seeing she was the one directly responsible for the lack of hands in my department. I was still short handed and Sae was actually very helpful in my station. Most surprising of all, the old woman was very cool to work side by side with.

I was still shaking in my boots about the Katniss incident, though. I hadn’t seen her since that night. I was weary of her, mostly because I had no idea what she would say or think of me. Luckily I was working 13 hour shifts, and the busy kitchen kept the panic at bay.

I hadn’t been admonished for poor behavior yet, but that was hardly a relief. If Katniss had made a complaint, and management thought I deserved termination, they would wait until port day to give me the notice. So, as we started approaching Sint Maarten, I felt my anxiousness levels spike.

We anchored a little before noon that day, and the only thing I was told before debarking, was to be back onboard by 5 o’clock, so I could interview new baker candidates, since my other guy got promoted to Boulanger.

I breathed easier then.

So I hadn’t been let go! 

I was very happy I got to keep my job, because I really loved St. Martin, and it would’ve been a tragedy to have such an awful experience linked to such a beautiful place. Getting fired so far from home, being stranded and left to figure out how to get back to the States from there, would’ve blown very badly.

Since I was in a celebratory mood, I knew exactly where I wanted to spend my precious few hours ashore.

St. Maartin was colonized by both, the Dutch and the French; in an unsually, unheard bout of maturity, both countries agreed to share the island, instead of fighting over the whole place. Smart decision, the island has crystalline waters so pure, you could see the bottom of the ocean from 10 feet above, as if looking through glass; The beautiful sandy beaches where towered over by tall palm trees that danced with in the salty, delicious breeze, while the local aromas permeated the wind. A true Caribbean jewel!

St. Maarten was such a perfect paradise, moguls and tycoons from all over the world had their very expensive yachts anchored in the marina, itching to be sailed further into the sea; there wasn’t a better seat to watch the awe inspiring sunsets, than from the water, where the sun’s trajectory was mirror in the quiet waves. The peaceful scene is one I recall in times I need serenity, yet, after my overworked week, I hankered for cheap beer, the stench of jet fuel and the pounding of my heart when the roaring of jet engines cut a path of hot exhaust into the sand of Maho Beach.

That was my destination for the day, and everything was right as rain, until somebody recognized me from the ship.

“Hey! Chef Mellark! Would you mind if I stick around you until I get my bearings?”

Normally, on port days, when we get valuable time off on land, no crew wants to deal with clingy guests, especially since you still could get in trouble for ‘fraternizing with the guests’, and honestly, most crew have to always be polite, smiley and personable onboard, they didn’t want to have to be all that on their own time away from the ship, we are as much a tourist as the cruise guests while at port.

Now, being a Pastry Chef, I’m always locked up in the kitchen. I don’t usually mingle with guests, let alone meet them in person unless the passenger has a request for a special occasion like a wedding or a birthday cake being commissioned; in those occasions, is my duty to personally deliver and serve the dessert. Outside of that, I seldom got approached or recognized by anyone on shore. I paused out of curiosity, and was surprised to see Katniss’ sister trying to catch up with me.

“Hi! Thank you for waiting!” She said breathlessly as soon as she fell into step with me.

“No problem at all… Primrose, right?” I waited for her to confirm, “I’m always happy to help a fellow tourist. By the way, you can call me Peeta.” She nodded, still trying to regulate her intake of breath.

As covertly as I could, my eyes scanned the crowd descending the ship, for a dark braid, framing a pretty face and stone gray eyes scowling at me.

“My sister doesn’t fare very well with mobs of people pushing against her,”  Primrose giggled. “She may come later and join me somewhere, though.”

I looked at her, but her sparkly blue eyes were taking in the sights greedily. I guess I wasn’t as discreet as I thought I was, because she added more after a second.

“You should say hello next you see her. I know she’s seems quiet at first, but in reality, she’s very funny once you get to know her,”

The first time my middle brother came home for summer vacation from college, he used to brag about his sordid escapades, stuff so wild I’ve doubted to this day, ever happened, but, the night he was to go back to school, he whispered possibly the douchiest advice I have ever heard:

_“Go for the quiet ones, baby bro, they are complete freaks in the sack!”_

I never felt compelled to follow his logic, let alone prove his theory right, but at Prim’s assessment of her sister, being a ‘quiet one’, this appalling, caveman brute I apparently had deep inside of my psyche, banged it’s fits on its chest in a mad, excited dance, while screaming at the top of his lungs ‘ **quiet girl me wants!** ’

I shook my head disgusted with myself.

I couldn’t believe my mind went there so flippantly and actually contemplated the idea. I was no saint, but I never considered I could be such a disgusting pig either.

Primrose takes my lack of response the wrong way, and starts trying to defend her sister from something I really didn’t think about until she mentioned it.

”Katniss is not a creep!” She speaks a bit too loud and way faster than necessary, “I know I said she memorized your bio page, but not in a creepy way... it’s just that you’re her cabin neighbor and she made it a point to know who all were sharing the deck with her.” 

“Oh... I didn’t even... Um, I didn’t thought any of it, to be completely honest.” I said making Prim visibly relax.

To dispel any wayward, overly eager, troublesome thoughts about what I’d just learned, and to bring the conversation to safer ground, I asked, “First time on a cruise?”

Prim smiled and shrugged.

“First time as an adult. This is actually my high school graduation present,” she said adjusting the strap of her beach bag on her shoulder.

“Oh, congratulations!” I started doing some math in my head.

During the middle of our low season, we were allowed to bring family and friends on the cruise for dirt cheap; they still got treated as royalty without breaking the bank. The middle of summer on the hand, when school was out, only full paying customers came in the ship.

“So, it’s been awhile since you graduated I take it?” I asked curiously.

“Four months. My mother said I need to save up some money before I could do a long cruise. I’ll still be back home before the start of my first semester.”

“You’re in college, then?”

“Yup! Med school, actually,” she smiled widely. “Full scholarship, too.” She looked ahead still smiling, the fast motion making her high ponytail swing from side to side.

“That’s awesome, Primrose. Wow!” I said genuinely impressed.

She sighed, “I know. But there are still expenses that scholarship won’t cover. My sister has always taken care of me. She wouldn’t let me take a job until recently, I had to put my foot down and tell her I was old enough to take some responsibility for myself.

“She’s always seen me as a kid, and only now she’s trying to come to terms about me having grown up. That’s part of the reason she finally took this job, so she could let me be on my own and try things for myself. Both, mother and me encouraged her to work for Panem Cruises because Katniss deserves to see the world, experience beautiful places, such as this island, instead of being stuck at home, babysitting grown ass adults.” She took a deep breath. 

I didn’t dare interrupt Prim during the avalanche of information she just spilled, sensing it was actually therapeutic for her to speak her mind. Who knew how long she had been carrying the weight of their story in her chest for.

Having nothing to say without sounding like a perverted gossip, I asked “So, what do you do when you’re not studying to become a doctor? I’m sure Katniss is very proud of you, either way.”

Proudly, she answered, “Part time cashier at a grocery store! It’s okay money for what I do.”

“And what does Katniss do in the ship?” I asked lamely.

“Oh!” Prim giggled again, “right now she sings. Mockingjay lounge I think it’s called? But if I had to guess, her dream job would be teaching archery. She’s pretty awesome with a bow and arrows. Dad taught her.”

“Archery? That’s pretty… _cool..._ and scary at the same time. Can you imagine her chasing your boy friends away?” We both laughed.

I filed away the information with great care even putting a mental bow on it, since it was precious to me, and we went on with our descent into the island.

 

* * *

 

Primrose was great company for the time we hanged out together. I told her stories of my many adventures working for Panem Cruises, and in return, she told me a lot of things about her life and her sister’s. Prim looked up to Katniss a great deal, she confided in me how her sister was a mother figure to her, the respect and adoration she showed for her big sister was inspiring, their bond was strong, unlike my rocky relationship with my own family. It made me ache for something like what they had.

Prim laughed a lot, she came with me to Maho Beach for about an hour, but soon, she found other kids from the cruise she had previously met and as younger people would, she simply shifted her attention to her peers for the duration of the time ashore. She said her goodbyes to me shortly after, leaving me to my own devices.

I enjoyed my alone time, laying on the sunbaked sand, watching the air traffic to Princess Juliana Airport, taking long swigs of the coldest beer the nearby restaurant offered. I was happy to see I hadn’t missed any of the big jumbos landing, and I even got to surf the tunnel of hot wind created by the 747 jet blast taking off. This time, I actually saw a waif of a girl tumble in the air like a leaf and then got blown into the water by the blast. It was epic!

No... The girl wasn’t hurt, but now she knew to heed government danger placards. She made for great video though.

5 o’clock came too fast.

As my time approached to get back to the ship, I simply looked around the place with fondness. The actual beach area wasn’t that big, nor was it the most attractive of beaches. There were no trees, not a small umbrella to hide away from the unforgiving sun, because airplanes flew so low above it, nothing could sit taller than people in the runway path.

The bar and grill to the side of the beach provided the only oasis around, and their speakers were blasting off air traffic control blabbering out into the open, for everyone to hear. The smallish strip of sand was packed with beach goers and airplane nuts nonetheless. Maho Beach,  belonged to the Dutch side of the island, and was arguably one of the most popular beaches around, the place was unique and something of a turístico staple.

I smiled to myself, shimmying back into my shirt, and headed to find transportation back to the port. All in all, it had been a pretty awesome day out in beautiful Sint Maarten.

 

* * *

 

Somebody banging on my door woke me up from one of the heaviest sleeps I’d had in a very long time.

Since they were so insistent, almost breaking down my damned door, I answered it with an angry growl.

“What?”

Before me, stood Katniss Noele Everdeen (intel acquired on her full name, courtesy of sweet, little miss Primrose Danielle Everdeen... their grand mother of their father side was French). Katniss’ long, dark hair fell loose down her back, her eyes were made up in a smoky palette and her lips were blood red and very tempting. But what caught my entire attention was the tumultuous storm gathering in her angry eyes.

“May I come in?” It was more a demand than an actual request.

I didn’t dare deny her, so I stood aside and signaled and invitation inside mutely and she stalked into my cabin in impressingly silent stomps. My nose caught a fruity scent when she passed by and my whole body leaned toward the source of the aroma without me being able to stop it. Luckily, Katniss didn’t notice my stupid blunder.

Before I could say or do anything, she turned around and again our eyes met head on. This time my brain registered more details of her appearance, for example: she was wearing a red, floor length dress, with sequins that when the light hit them just right, gave the illusion that she was on fire when she moved. Though the neckline was modest, there skirt had a slit that started at the height of her left thigh and showed her perfectly sculpted calf every time she took a step.

I opened my mouth to say something, I have no idea what, but she beat me to it right away.

“Please don’t talk to my sister anymore. I don’t want to be rude, but, I can’t allow you to talk to her anymore.”

“I- what?” I was at a lost for words. This was definitely a first and for the life of me I couldn’t even come up with an idea as to why she was banning me from talking to Primrose.

“I want you to please, abstain yourself, from conversing, with my baby sister. Primrose. Blonde. Pretty blue eyes. Impressionable.” She spoke deliberately slowly, enunciating her words thickly, as if I was dense in the head, which was probably true at the time.

I had never been so confused in my life! I would’ve been offended if my mind had caught up and could tell what was going on.

I looked at the clock on my side table. 1 o’clock a.m. This was absolutely weird, but I was tired and I couldn’t think straight even if my life depended on it; I had to report to work in six hours.

“Okay, Katniss. I’ll stay away.”

“Thank you.” She said dryly, then hesitated and added “Sir.” In a less assured tone.

I sighed not sure why she insisted on treating me as her superior. Yes, I had almost 11 years of seniority over her few months, but we weren’t officers, Hell! we weren’t even in the same totem pole as hierarchy went.

“Is there anything else?” I asked with a yawn I couldn’t hold back. “I need to go back to bed, and unless I can be of other services to you from my bedroom…” I let the sentence die away, her eyes took that deer-in-the-crosshairs look again.

She took a step back and almost of tripped, trying to get around me to reach the door.

“N-no, of course I don’t need anything else. I just… I had to make sure you knew there are boundaries. Prim is 19, but still… boundaries.”

 _What_? In my sleep deprived mind all I could think of, was ‘ _Lucky she’s hot as hell, because Katniss Everdeen is a very odd chick. Strange reactions too.’_

“Good night, chef Mellark. And… I’m sorry I woke you up.” She seemed very flustered suddenly.

She high tailed out of there like a spooked bunny.

I stuck my head out of my door to see her marvelous figure walk away, in the direction of the crew bar. ‘ _Damn she’s got a fine ass!’_ Under normal circumstances, I would’ve chastised myself for objectifying a fellow colleague, but I was still half asleep, and my brain couldn’t sort out apprehensive behavior from good, so I let it go and headed to bed.

Out of habit, I tried pulling off my shirt, just to realized I was in my boxers, and the whole exchange with Katniss happened with me only wearing underwear.

“Aaawwww, shit…” In my defense, she barged into my room uninvited at one in the morning.

I burrowed deep into my covers, thinking on finding her in the morning to apologized for my apparel or lack therefore rather of, meanwhile, sleep pulled me under slowly, and then, everything was so clear!

I bolted up in bed, straight as an arrow and wide awake. “Oh, fucking hell, please no!” I exclaimed covering my face with both hands.

‘ _Did I unintentionally proposition her just now?_ ’

No wonder she looked so _perturbed_.

I groaned and fell back into my pillows. Sleep claimed me a moment later in a terrible nightmare, where wolf mutts chased me and Katniss through a dark forest, and then they mauled my leg while she shot at them with a bow until her quiver was empty. The whole time, in my dream I looked up at beauty with the bow and swoon, which annoyed me a little when I woke up, because nightmare me was literally dying of blood lose, but my subconscious sighed like a schoolboy with a crush... I can’t deny nightmare Katniss looked badass, like a modern Artemis; she was very bossy too, demanding I stayed awake to stave off death, and in my dream I did just because she sounded so scare. All of it only served to give me a fitful sleep, I rest at all thanks to my jerk of a subconscious. 

Heavens knew… even in my dreams the girl was a force of nature, and I was powerless to prevent my growing attraction to her.

 

* * *

  

According to the kitchen rotation calendar, it was my day off at sea. Before I could head out, I had to go over the list of things only the Pastry Chef was responsible for, and leave it ready and approved for the next day; it was the perfect excuse to stay in the sanctuary of my station longer than usual.

After realizing what I had said to Katniss in my sleep idled state the night before, I refused to make a bigger fool of myself and did the mature thing... I hid in the kitchen all day. Clearly, I couldn’t be trusted around her; all I ever did in front of her was put both my feet in my mouth, like a chump. But by law, I had to take my break from work, and the mere thought of hiding in my cabin for the next 12 hours, was spiking up my stress level through the roof, with sprinkles of claustrophobia to top it all.

When I couldn’t loiter around my station any longer, I scurried back to my room, like a damned mouse trying to get past a cat back to its burrow. I brought dinner with me so I didn’t have to venture out again and settled for a boring stuffy night.

The next morning I felt like the walls were closing in on me. Normally I don’t feel the the ship’s floating motions, but being caged in was making me feel every slight movement like we were jerking away in the middle of a storm; I couldn’t take anymore, so I picked up my drawing pad, a few pencils and headed outside, to the less popular ‘Circenses’ deck, fully intended to grab something to eat, and people-watch... It was funny how my hypocritical mind was already planing on finding a quiet place to sketch the one person I was trying to avoid encountering at all costs.

Everything was going A-Okay; the weather was mild and warm, partly cloudy but still sunny enough to be cheerful, my chicken sandwich was decent, and the Circences deck was almost empty.

There were two bars on this deck, one was almost completely deserted except for old fart Cray, a retired policeman that practically lived in the ship, since he was onboard 10 months out of the year, and his drinking buddy, Captain Abernathy, who was only nice to a select few, and usually only in the evening when he was well liquored up.

I snuck in the bar and seeing as neither man acknowledged my presence, I sat up shop in a corner at the back.

Every bar in the ship was equipped with a karaoke machine that usually didn’t get much use during the day, I saw Abernathy get up from his stool and start poking buttons on the thing while hollering something at some poor schmuck behind the counter of the bar. I sighed, about to collect my stuff and get the hell out of there, when I saw her step from behind the counter, wearing a bartender uniform, stuffing a cleaning rag into the back pocket of her khaki shorts.

“What do you want old man?” She huffed cocking her hips to the side.

“My song, Sweetheart. And make it peppier this time, will ya? Last time you sang it, it was like you were serenading  a fucking funeral.” The Captain answered in his infamous acerbic verb.

She rolled her eyes at him, and the motion was mesmerizing to me. I couldn’t believe the way she handled herself around freaking _Captain_ Abernathy, meanest son of a gun in the whole Panem Cruises line, especially since she always seemed scared out of her skin talking to me, unless she was ordering me to back off her sister, that is.

I moved behind a strategically placed empty chair, were I could see everything but remained concealed myself.

  
“Fine, but just so you know, the reason I’m singing the _ballad_ slowly, is because I’m practicing it for your funeral. I don’t want your annoying ass to come back from the dead to hunt me, if I don’t sing your stupid song as they throw you into the sea.” She delivered every line with a sarcastically sweet smile.

There went my brother’s theory! Katniss wasn’t the quiet dormouse she appeared to be, she was fucking feisty, and it was kind of turning me on!

Abernathy waved her off, plopping into his stool and taking a generous drag from his flask, even though he had a fully stocked whole bar in front of him, “Yeah, yeah. You’re better than me and all that shit. Whatever. Just sing, Sweetheart, that’s the only reason I allowed you to work in my ship instead of D2 with that boyfriend of yours.”

 _Boyfriend_? I sat at the edge of my seat and almost fell out of it in the process of trying stretch my ears closer to them. A boyfriend was something I was wholeheartedly hoping she didn’t have.

“Gale is _not_ my boyfriend,” she said emphatically while trying to set up the karaoke machine.

“And does tall, dark and broody know that?”

“Of course he does, Haymitch. Now stop harassing me if you want me to sing.” There was no real bite behind the words that time, in fact the glance she threw the old man’s way was soft, almost fond of.

“Alright,” Captain Abernathy slurred. “Break a leg, annoying brat!”

Katniss did and elaborate curtsy, “This goes out to Captain Haymitch Abernathy, most insufferable uncle in the planet!”

“Ha! This one’s my most favorite headache, out of all of my siblings spawns.” Abernathy hollered drunkenly at old man Cray who was almost asleep next to him, “She's got…” Abernathy screw up his face, as if trying real hard to come with a word, then he yelled obnoxiously, “Spunk! You have a lot of spunk, sweetheart!”

“That she does,” I whispered to myself.

I was piecing together the last tidbit of information, trying to make sense of it, filing away things I deduced to facts and setting aside the topics that needed more investigation, like the possible boyfriend in D2 business. 

Panem Cruises identified each ship in the fleet by a letter followed by a number, it wasn’t uncommon for crew members start working in a ship and then transfer to a different one for any number of reasons; for example we served D12, but my friend Finnick started as First Mate of D4 but was currently shadowing Abernathy since the older man had announced his retirement to come at the end of the season.

I was still pondering on the exchange I witnessed when the folky notes of an old mountain air filled the room. I tried to retreat back into my original sitting spot but her voice rang out sending my mind into an out of body experience, rendering my arms and legs useless.

I had never heard anything like it.

Every note, every intonation, every high and low was masterful, breathtakingly beautiful, the sounds made me want to cry and laugh at the same time.

I don’t particularly remember the words, it was something about a valley, all I knew was that before she started singing, there were seagulls screeching loudly outside the deck and after she sang, everything fell silent in reverence to her voice.

In a minute Katniss was this exotic beauty I was nursing a burgeoning crush on, the next, she’s this glorious sight to behold, a goddess with a magical voice that has the power to turn me inside out. One thing was irreversibly true, hiding behind this chair in the least popular bar of the least popular deck of this ship, I knew in my bones, I was goner.

 

 _TBC_...


	2. II

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Unbetaed. All mistakes are mine.
> 
> Smut ahead.

I didn’t usually frequent the shows at the lounges, always too busy or too tired to sit and pay attention— the last thing I wanted to do on my day off was to mingle with a bunch of drunk people I had to catered to the next day. One hears many things that can’t be unheard from whiny guests at those shindigs, and it’s usually better to remain ignorant of their opinions— but I had found one compelling reason to attend a show at the Mockingjay lounge: Katniss’s sweet dulcets.

After hearing her sing once, I was instantly addicted to her voice, so I found myself sitting first row, and as excited as a kid on Christmas Eve. 

Caesar Flickerman, a middle aged guy, as flamboyant as could be, served as master of ceremonies. He’d been entertaining  the crowds between shows and introducing the performers as they came along for as long as I recall. It was no surprise he was chatting up the audience, but then he noticed me.

For some reason the man loved talking to me in our spare times, he said once I had great timing— whatever that meant— so as soon as he realized I was there, he called me to sit with him on stage, where we had a conversation that turned extremely silly very quickly.

Everyone was having a good ol’ time laughing at our bad puns and play-on-words heavily sprinkled with sexual innuendos. I admit it was a lot of fun.

I never saw myself as a comedian, but I discovered my hidden potential then, in case one day baking didn’t pay the bills anymore.

After a bit, we started going back and forth about the differences in our showers: mine was a tiny thing in the crew cabin, but since he’s an entertainer, he gets to chose housing in the guests decks, so his shower is big enough to ‘sing _and_ dance’ according to him. Then, I told him about how I accidentally got lady’s shower gel instead of my usual Old Spice, and now I smelled like roses. He took a humorous sniff of me and the audience went wild with laughter.

But I sensed the end of my 15 minutes of fame drawing near. 

“Well Peeta, I sincerely love our conversations, but this folks here have come to see a real treat! Isn’t it right fellows?”

The crowd went crazy at his acknowledgment. The guy was very good at his thing! No wonder he was a household name in the company. Every ship wanted him in their roster, but he was an old cat with deep ingrained idiosyncrasies. He’d never leave the Mockingjay lounge in our ship. 

“Alright, alright… without further ado, I leave you with the mystical voice of the only, Katniss Everdeen, _The Girl On Fire_!”

I couldn’t help the jolt of excitement that ran through my body.

I scurried off the stage as fast as I could and sat with my back ramrod straight holding my breath, until I saw her step in the spotlight. 

She looked ravishingly beautiful in a black velvet dress with sparkles that came from the hem of her floor length gown and decreased when they reached her rib cage. Every time she moved, the sparkles created the illusion of glowing a warm blue, making her look like an ember that refused to go cold after the fire was out. 

She sang like an angel. Her set was only 5 songs long, mostly covers of Mariah Carey and Christina Aguilera type stuff, but I had to agree with her uncle, her best song was the folky one she sang for him earlier. She was amazing at all the styles, but there’s was so much of her soul shining through the first song I heard her sing... I became very partial to it.

  
After her set was done, I gave her a standing ovation that was copied all throughout the lounge.

Wolf whistles came from all directions, making my head turn here and there to the point that I could pass for an owl. I couldn’t stop other people from appreciating Katniss’ performance, she was sexy as hell, and her voice made my pants tighten a little on the crotch area more than once, but the way she owned the stage and the confidence she exuded while holding the mic were mesmerizing.

I tried not to think how other men in the audience responded to her. She was an artist, gracious and alluring, any warm blooded man was bound to feel the same effect she had on me. Just knowing this, made me feel irrational jealousy.

“Bravo! Bra-vo, my dear!”

My new found owlish skills kicked in when I recognized the voice of Greasy Sae the next table over.

“Wonderful as always!” Sae shouted.

I doubted Katniss could hear her over the “encore, encore,” chanting of the group obviously inebriated guests in the far right corner who seem to had been enjoying the spirits a bit too hard.

The old Sous Chef didn’t look fazed by it, and then I realized that Katniss was actually smiling at Sae. A moment later Katniss started waving at the patrons, thanking them graciously for being a great audience and then her smoky made-up eyes landed on me.

Her eyes widened, her cheeks turned scarlet and again, like an old gag between us, she took a step backwards tripping on her heels; luckily she didn’t lose her balance, simply walking away as gracefully and fast as she could.

My greedy eyes followed her all the way until she disappeared behind the backstage area. 

‘ _Damn that ass!_ ’

“Watch it boy! That there is my favorite niece you’re ogling.” I found gray, hazy eyes staring me down, less than a foot away. 

‘ _Shit! Did I said that aloud?’_

I had no idea a pair of eyes could be so piercing, dangerous and intimidatin while so bloodshot and cloudy.

It was my turn to feel my eyes widened in fear as I took in Captain Abernathy’s terrifying stare.

For a moment, I pictured him not as the paunchy old geezer before me, but a fit and hearty pirate, with a big hat and eye patch, wielding two humongous blades in either hand. I shuddered the image off my mind.

My stupid brain didn’t lose a beat casually comparing the scary man’s irises with Katniss’ eyes. Besides the obvious drunken cloudiness in Abernathy’s, the resemblance was uncanny! Maybe that’s why I originally thought her eyes looked vaguely familiar.

What strange thoughts to break into ones head, in such a delicate situation.

I wasn’t  even sure the Captain wouldn’t  be inclined to find a way to fire me for disrespecting his niece, but I surely as hell knew Katniss wouldn’t have appreciated the comment herself. My face burned with shame.

“Sorry, Captain—“ I mumbled like a scolded 7 year old.

I briefly contemplated giving him a Scout’s honor pledge to never do it again, but then the old man turned his face to the stage boringly.

“Nah, it’s okay. I get it. She’s something, Sweetheart. Just like her momma before life threw the Titanic- iceberg and all- at her.” He took a swig from his flask and then added, “Just don’t let her catch you using that foul language, Boy. She’d probably force you to eat soap or something,” he wheezed out a laugh. “She ain’t got any patience for sailor talk!”

It seemed as if I could never make a good impression on this family, with the exception being Primrose apparently.

I tried apologizing again, but Abernathy waved me off, and then asked me the most random question ever.

“So, Boy… is it hard to make a Tres Leches cake in here? But, how about replacing milk with rum?” He arched an eyebrow expectantly.

 

* * *

 

“Hey stranger!”

It was port day in Puerto Rico.

I cursed under my breath and pretended I hadn’t heard her, but no such luck.

Glimmer circled me, smiling mischievously. “Haven’t seen you in like a week.” She purred with a pout.

“Mmm… six days actually.” I said ticking off the days in my head since the first time I saw Katniss.

“Oh? Are we counting the days now? I knew you’d missed me, but I wasn’t aware how much—“

“Not really, I was guiding myself by my rotation.” It wasn’t entirely a lie, I had used my rotation to figure out how the first time I saw Katniss was on a Tuesday evening.

“Oh…” Glimmer sounded genuinely disappointed.

“Anywho, how are things going with Cato? I hope he’s treating you right,” I said nonchalantly, hoping she realized it was time to sever that bond and make new connections elsewhere.

“Uh… I guess so. Are you mad about Cato? Because I can stop—“

“Oh please no!” I cried out interrupting her mid sentence.

I didn’t mean to sound quite so… _eager_ to dismiss her, but her pretty face hardened and she squinted her green eyes angrily at me.

“Spit it out Peeta, what’s going on?” She demanded.

“Well, I think we shouldn’t see each other anymore. I’m not looking to just pass the time, and is clear you can replace me pretty easy, so…”

  
I saw the danger only a half second before her slim hand connected with my face. My skin stung, and all I could do was massage my cheek and watch her strut away indignantly.

“Oh my goodness! Are you okay?” Cried out a sweet voice I almost mistook for Katniss’… _almost_.

“Mmm, hey Prim.” I greeted morosely. My ego hurting worse than my cheek. “Sorry you witnessed that.”

“Meh! I’ve seen worse. My mother is a trauma nurse at Seam Hospital, back in North Carolina.” She informed me, digging around her purse. “There you are!” She pulled out a small bottle of aloe lotion and hand it to me. “Apply it generously on the affected area, it’ll keep it from bruising.”

“Okay, how do I apply this to my inner macho man?” I asked and she about died laughing.

“So, is this the end of the line for you?” I asked her, pointing at the duffle bag behind her.

“Yeah. I’m actually spending the night here with my mother. She came to meet me, and take the opportunity to see Katniss for a bit. Then, Mother and I are flying to Atlanta the day after tomorrow. That’s where I’m going to school.”

“That’s awesome, I’ve heard great things about Atlanta, but believe it or not, I’ve only been there once.”

“Oh it’s an amazing city! Biggest in the south, you know. I can’t wait! It’s going to be so great to finally make my dreams come true!”

Our conversation continued with her, gushing about her plans for the future, and me congratulating her copiously, while applying lotion to my pulsing face.

“Hey, before I forget. Here. As a parting gift, since you said you were a fan of my cakes.” I handed her a small box I had actually intended to give her friend Rue, to pass along to Prim just because. I was glad I actually made it today, because I originally thought of giving it to her tomorrow.

As soon as Prim opened the lid of the box she released a very high pitch scream, that scared the shit out of me. She hugged me, bouncing in place like a toddler with a new toy.

“Thank you, thank you, thank you! The flowers look so real!” She even kissed my cheek right on the boo-boo when she saw the cupcake covered in primroses. Then, added in an almost maniacal whisper, “Good luck with my sister! She’s like a totally different person around you, clumsy and tongue-tided... but I guess that’s ‘cause it’s _you_. Just go slowly, I promise she’s worth it! Sarcastic and witty, you’ll love her!”

Her advice, welcome as it was, left me scratching my head in confusion. It was almost as if she knew something I wasn’t aware of, which wasn’t more than plausible, after all, I barely knew them except for scattered tidbits of information.

Before long, Prim bounced back to her recently acquired gaggle of friends, and I couldn’t help the lazy smile taking over my face when she stuffed the last piece of pastry into her mouth so she didn’t have to share with the other kids, but my smile slowly wiped away when I noticed Katniss staring me down from the other side of the deck.

Her eyes were as intimidating and scary as Captain Abernathy’s, but while his looked like they could x-ray you in one sweep, hers were volcanic. A storm of raining fire, sulfur and ashes threatened to bury me alive under her tumultuous glare, but I stood my ground (not entirely by choice) while she stalked towards me like a fury straight out of hell.

My flight or fight reaction seemed to have broken, because my legs wouldn’t move, and my feet felt like lead. All I could do, was wait for her judgment- and possible punishment- while waving a white flag with a welcome mat rolled out for her.

I was momentarily sidetracked by a pesky thought, ‘ _How come am I so equally fascinated and terrified with this girl? She isn’t very big, I have at least 6 inches and about 120 pounds on her; and though to me she’s more radiant than the sun, she isn’t particularly pretty in the classic sense of the word… I mean, to me, she’s perfect, but I still can’t explain this effect she has on me.’_

“I must ask you to stop talking to my sister!” She snapped still two feet away from me, “Again!” She added forcefully.

“I would, except she approached me this time, and I thought it’d be rude to ignore her,” I said evenly. I refused to let her see how badly my knees were shaking, plus she was starting to irritate me. “You ma’am, still haven’t told me what I’d do wrong to earn your distrust.” I said trying to hide the hurt I felt on a very personal level, because although she really did not have to give me a reason why she wanted me away from her baby sister, I considered myself a good person and I damned right wanted to know what about me she disliked so much.

Her scowl deepened, and my fascination with her facial expressions got the best of me.

While I berated myself for being a love-sick idiot, I almost missed her answer.

She mumbled her response lowly, as if ashamed of it.

Trying to figure her out was exhausting.

One minute she was all in my face, then the next, she was as timid as a church mouse.

“What was that?” I asked leaning closer to her, in case she really didn’t wanna say it so loud in front of all the people around us. 

“She’s much too young for you.” She said, blushing.

She shook her head, seemingly angry about something and brought her fiery eyes back to mine. “Plus, she has a boyfriend back home, Dennis Cartwright. She-she’s not interested in you that way.” She rushed it out evidently flustered.

It took me a second to process it, but my brain finally cut through the molasses and sticky parts of her response.

She threw at me some heavy answers and I finally came to a conclusion that explained a lot.

“Wait. You think _I’m_... interested in Prim?” I asked equal parts surprised and disturbed, “Your little sister, Primrose?” I clarified because it was absolutely ludicrous.

She scowled again, looking confused and uncomfortable. “Well, yeah. Aren’t you? She’s kinda your type,”

 _My type?_ What the hell did that even mean? I didn’t have a type!

Actually, I did have a type: _Katniss_ was my type! not that I was gonna tell her that, though, she wasn’t done accusing me just yet, and that would’ve been more fuel to her fire.

“You spent an awful lot of time with her all voyage long, telling her all this… _inappropriate_ stories about your trips around the Caribbean.” As if to prove her point, she put her fist on her hip and cocked it to the side, using this I-dare-you-to-contradict me tone I didn’t care too much for, “She told me about the nudist beach stories. It sounded like you were egging her to join you... and invitation.“

“Invitation?” I squawked incredulously, “I didn’t invite Prim to a nudist beach!” I cried out in exasperation.

It was all becoming so clear now.

I did tell Prim a story about this one time we disembarked on the French side of St. Martin, and my friend Johanna dragged me and Finnick over to one of the famous nudist beaches. Back then, we were so new to the business, we had to share quarters with a bunch of other people, so none of us were particularly shy anymore; we discovered that playing volleyball completely naked, was kind of hilarious when we weren’t in pain or sand wasn’t filling crevices it wasn’t supposed to even reach.

It was a story I remember with fondness and amusement, and right after sharing it with Prim I realized it had been a terrible idea to tell her. Hindsight is always 20/20 and usually comes by the hand of Regret. I _knew_  that stupid tale was gonna come back to bite me in the ass, I just didn’t expect it to be so soon.

I groaned internally.

No wonder she was so weary of me. For all she knew, I was a sleazy pervert. 

She opened her mouth again, all I could do was brace for impact.

“You told her she’d love all the cooky customs europeans left all over the Caribbean. You also said you’d help her explore—“

“I didn’t actually invited her anywhere!” I finally exploted drawing attention to ourselves.

I grabbed her by the elbow and pretty much dragged her into a open hallway ringing the deck.

“Oh my god! You make me sound like a pervert.” My arms flailed around with my growing frustration, though my voice was lower this time. “I offered my notes on places, my old guide books. I never offer anything nefarious!” I stressed. 

“Even if that’s so, the nudist beach thing was highly inappropriate and out of line!” She countered angrily. “Prim’s a child!”

“No. She isn’t. And you know it! She told me all about Danny—“

“Dennis,” she corrected.

“Whatever his name is! She told me all about him, and for _your_ information, _she_ started asking questions about the nudist beaches on behalf that little twerp, Danny.”

“Dennis!”

“ _Whatever_! It’s him you need to act all High Inquisitor with, not me.” My voice dropped when a family passed us by, looking us up and down. “I really only told her that TripAdvisor was great for research, never that I would personally take her anywhere. She hates being treated like a baby, a fact I learned the first time I had a conversation with her. I gave her the same advice I’d give any guest on the ship.”

My heart was hammering fast in my chest. There was an influx of adrenaline flowing through my system, so I tried to calm myself down by pacing and breathing deeply. I rubbed my forehead a moment, then I said tiredly, “I don’t know what you think my intentions are, Katniss. I’m only being friendly with Prim because she’s a nice kid. A _good_ , _smart_ kid.

”I know I haven’t helped my case with you, showing that I’m good guy, but whatever concept of me you’ve perceived since the first time we met, I can assure you, I’m not like that. We just keep meeting in this situations that leave me in a bad spot. I swear I’m not this shitty, unsavory character you keep seeing.”

When she didn’t even try to meet my eyes, I realized how physically drained I was. 

I figured there was always next week. I could rest up a few days, recharge my energy, then give her another go trying to prove myself to her. So, with a nod, I started to walk away.

Trying to ingratiate myself with Katniss was just so much work; clearly the little sister approach was a terrible, messy bust, even if it was unintentional.

“Don’t worry, Katniss. I don’t wanna give you the wrong impression any longer. If ever my path crosses Prim’s again, I’ll ignore her.” There was no bite to my tone, just defeat, and if she felt relief, anger or even believed me at all, she didn’t show it.

Instead of going into San Juan for the day as I had planned, I hauled my butt to my cabin for a nap.

 

* * *

 

6:07 pm. A timid knock on my door woke me from my light, unrestful nap.

I was cranky.

  
“Yeah,” I yanked my door open, and there she was, looking contrite.

She made my blood boil in anger just for a second, but seeing her shrinking away at my harsh greeting did ugly things to my innards, making my temper evaporate.

We spoke at the same time.

“I’m sorry about earlier—”

“I have a crush on you—“

Silence. Deafening, crushing, anguished silence. 

“Wait, what?” I pushed my pinky into my ear and twisted it.

I couldn’t have possibly heard her right, but she screw up her face and elaborated.

“I saw you… ten years ago. You were just starting in the kitchens. It was one of those Family Fun Week Cruises, the one’s during low season, when the crew was allowed to bring family onboard for free for a whole week?”

I nodded, I knew the Family Fun Cruises. I brought my mother to one my first year on the ship, and she complained about everything the whole time. Never invited her again.

“Most people don’t know it, but Captain Abernathy is my dad’s half brother. My dad had just passed away in a work related accident, work comp was a joke, and soon we had no money, food or anywhere to go. Uncle Haymitch let us come on that cruise and stayed for about three months.

“Alma Coin was Sous Chef back then, she knew about my family pretty much stowing away, but unlike the rest of the personnel, who looked the other way as a favor to uncle Haymitch, Alma would deny us food when she could.” She looked up straight into my eyes, and every hair in my body stood on point.

Like a punch in the gut, I finally remembered her.

  
She was a scrawny little thing, chapped lips, cheekbones protruding sickly, eyes sunk in her skull with dark bags under her lids. Pitiful. First time I saw her staring at the buffet table inside the Mockingjay Dining Hall, she was wearing a checkered red dress and her black hair was in two limp braids, instead of her signature single one. She looked nothing like the healthy version of herself standing on my doorway.

“You gave me bread, just after Coin ordered me away from the buffet table...” her voice broke.

I pulled her into my room fully and closed the door behind her.

Whatever she was here to say, was nobody else’s business, but ours.

“You fed me every day. Behind Coin’s back. But she found out and threw you out of her kitchen. I felt awful, so I finally grew a spine and told uncle Haymitch about the whole thing, and he fixed it quietly. Unbeknownst to you, you helped me feed Prim, and I had to help you somehow.”

Huh! So that’s what happened when that witch Coin fired me. I always thought management reversed the decision, because I was just giving away my own personal portions of food. I never knew all that had transpired back then. I must’ve been 20 years old when all this happened. Never in a million years would’ve I imagined this outcome with that little scrawny kid. Looking at the little girl’s sad, glassy eyes made me realized you could encounter hunger anywhere, and that you should you what you can to help it. 

I made a point to volunteer in Haiti after meeting that girl, because I couldn’t stand not helping hungry children. I’m glad she’s okay now. I hope every person I’ve fed over the years get the same chance as her.

Remembering about how the Captain overheard me ‘ _praising_ ’ Katniss’ derrière, I muttered with a grimace, “It’s a good thing Captain Abernathy doesn’t know who I am,”

Our eyes connected, and she smirked.

“Oh, he knows alright.” She averted her eyes “He’s always known about you. How do think I ended up your next door neighbor?”

_Fuck… can I ever stop putting my foot in my huge mouth around this people? He knew the whole time, and still gave me grief about it? The bastard!_

It dawned on me, I never stopped to question how did a new hire such as her, scored a private cabin on the top crew deck, where only the most senior of us had the privilege to stay.

A second realization hit me right then.

“How come you never said anything before now?, You’ve been in this boat for ages.” My voice was shril even to my own ears.

  
Her infamous blush came back with a vengeance, but this time she looked pained. She bit her lip and looked away.

“You’ll think me childish.”

“I doubt it, but I really want to know, so why don’t you try me?” I suggested peering at her with curiosity.

“Haymitch drilled it into my brain every day, since I was old enough to know. He said it wasn’t a big deal, everybody did it, that I shouldn’t let it affect me when, I saw it happening, but despite me knowing it, expecting it even, thinking I was prepared for it...” She sighed, wringing her fingers together.

“My first week here, I saw you grinding so explicitly into this woman. You might as well be coupling with her in the middle of the crew bar’s dance floor. I felt my heart brake a little. You were my hero, I had this huge crush on you since I was a kid. But you had no idea I existed. ”

I frowned and her saddened eyes took a quick glance at me. Her voice was so soft then, almost as if she was trying to console me, even though she was the one that got her feelings hurt.

“Coming to work in _your_ ship was like a dream come true! I was so excited to finally see you. I had Cinna, the stylist at the Mockingjay Deck Salon, do my makeup everyday on the off chance that I may run into you in the hall, I didn’t want to look like a plain country girl when I introduced myself to you.” She scowled a little, then fixed me with a stare. “Do you know how hard it is to maintain a perfect makeup in this heat?” She shook her head ruefully.

“But the few times you came to the crew deck, you were always with somebody. Actually, I’ve counted three different somebodies since my arrival. All of them perfect blonde bombshells with a little too much cleavage.” She inhaled a ragged breath. “I realized I was being ridiculous, you’d never notice dark little me, next to those girls.” She choked a little.

So that’s where she got the whole _type_ thing from?

It was sad she thought that way, because normally I’m not partial to one look over another, it must’ve been a fluke she saw me with all blondes, and I had to let her know I was not like that. That in the extremely short time that had lapsed since meeting for the first time as adults, she became _The_ one, _My_  One.

“Aww, Katniss, no—“

“I’m not naive.” She spat, “I know how things work below deck. Haymitch tried to tell me, but despite my best attempts, it still affected me. Knowing about it is one thing, but seeing it is another complete different monster. It reminded me a little too much of when my mother lost my father, and how wrecked she was. It scared me. I realized I didn’t care for open relationships, I’m not the sharing type, so I avoided you like the plague. You’ll never know how easy it was to simply blend with the crowd and become invisible. I could never compete with your hookups, let alone keep your attention long, so why even try, right?.”

“Compete?” I repeated incredulously. “There’s no competition Katniss. Don’t you see? You’re _it_! Since the moment I saw you, you were _it_ for me. You blew ‘em all out of the water. Consider my attention snagged and fixated on you from now on.”

  
The look of disbelief on her face almost broke me.

“Mister Mellark—“

“Peeta!” I corrected her.

“Mister Peeta—“

“ _Just_ Peeta, please.” I begged.

She bit her lip, “Peeta,” she sighed the name and I was even more of a goner with the sound, “you don’t have to say something you think I want to hear. I’m a big girl—“

“I fell in love with you!” I cut in.

“Its my turn to confess.” I tell her calmly after a cleansing breath.

“I fell in love with you when I eavesdropped on you singing the valley song. And then again when Prim told me about how kind, brave and selfless you are. Then, I fell in love with you when you told Captain Abernathy off, because that was just badass! I fell, completely, head over heels, in love with you when you cockbloked me that day with Glimmer, because Finnick Odair is a fucking genius, and the bastard knew what he was talking about. I don’t _ever_ , want to sleep with another girl... only you!”

I’m not sure what of my cheesy speech convinced her, but hearing those words caused her face to fill with relief, joy and love. I started saying something else to the effects of moving things slowly, but forward, but none of the words made it out of my mouth.

She lunged at me, shutting me up with her lips. The kiss was sweet, a little inexperienced, somewhat awkward and oh, so very short.

  
She stepped back and stared at me with widened eyes, shocked by what she had done.

The disgusting inner caveman-Peeta-pig that had no qualms on commenting on her delicious ass in public, was nothing compared with the lust monster she just unleashed with that look.

I took a step forward, invading her space, wrapped my hands around her face, neck, the swell of her hips, anywhere I could reach, and kissed her with all I had.

I nipped at her lower lip until she gasped, opening her mouth. I plunged my tongue in and she responded in kind, mimicking the movements with her own tongue.

“Peeta…”

“Mmm?”

“That thing you were doing to Gladys Miller?” She sighed into my lips.

I leaned back to ask, “Who the hell is Gladys Miller?” Then went back to attack her jaw and neck with pecks and licks that had her panting.

“Umm… _Glimmer_? Gladys is her given name, I guess you know her by her stage name.”

“Hmm… I don’t care. What was I doing—?” I stopped dead, letting go of her. I knew exactly what she saw me doing with Glimmer- _Gladys-_  whatever her name was.

Her eyes dropped. Her blush intensified. She gulped some air, and then stared me right in the eye. “I want that. I want you to do it to me.” Her face was so openly shy, my knees knocked together.

“You… you want… you want _that_?”

  
She nodded, and took a deep breath, “I've been doing it to myself ever since I saw you. You must think I’m disgusting.” She made to step away from me, but my cock wouldn’t allow it.

“Not one bit!” My brain simply walked off to fantasize about Katniss masturbating thinking of me. The lust monster took control completely then. “Come ‘ere,”

I pulled her to me, but she put a slim, delicate hand on my chest to keep some distance between us.

The motion brought me back to my senses. Lust monster hauled pitifully in the back of my mind. 

She looked up at me, eyes hopeful and searching, “I’ve never done that with anyone. I’ve dated a couple of times, but never got past the kissing stage. I just never felt inclined to, you know? But ever since I saw you in the hall… well… I want it.”

I staggered backwards. _Is she trying to kill me? Can she truly be telling me this right now?_

“I know… I’m 22 years old, I should have done it all by now, but it never felt right. I want it to be right. I wasn’t _actively_ saving myself or anything, I’m sure I would’ve done it if I felt comfortable with any of those guys I’ve dated, but I can’t help the way I feel around you.”

Trying to keep myself calmed, I started. “We will go slow, and whenever you’re ready for actual sex—“

“I’m ready now,” she whispered.

“What?”

_Breathe through your nose you idiot, don’t pass out right now! Don’t you DARE pass out!_

“Well… Just looking at you too long ruins my panties.” She squeaked averting her eyes.

I had to suppress a groan.

“Okay.” I said under my breath, the monster back at the wheel, “That I have to see! Will you let me see?”

She nodded shyly, but eagerly. “Okay.”

”So, you’ll allow it?” I asked hopefully.

”I’ll allow it.” She gave me the sweetest smile then. 

  
With her permission, I dragged her by the hand and sat us both on the edge of my bed. I was gonna combust If didn’t have a peek, and she was generous enough to let me have my way with her.

I undressed her slowly, tenderly. Kissing every new inch of skin I uncovered and let her gasps, moans and sighs guide me forth.

She was so responsive. She shouted my name when I sucked on her nipples for the very first time. 

I stopped to remove my own shirt, because it was only fair that we matched, and continued my lips descent down her ribcage. I felt like a teenager, exploring a girl for the very first time, and it was exhilarating to say the least.

I sat back, took off her keds, threw them somewhere behind me, kissed her feet discovering her ticklish spot, and then came back to unbutton her shorts. I pulled them along with her underwear down her sculpted legs, taking time to kiss her calves.

I was on my knees, between her splayed thighs. She was gloriously bald every. Fucking. Where!

My eyes were fixed to her hairless pussy without blinking for what felt like forever, so she ventured an explanation she really didn’t need to give me.

“That friend of yours, Johanna Mason, she was my direct superior in D7 when I was first hired. She kept talking about how men went crazy for ‘ _hardwood floors_ ’. It took me a while to figure out she meant.” She lifted her chin. “I knew the things that happened after dark in the crew quarters. I just wanted to be prepared for when— _if_ — we ever… you know,” she motion at the two of us, and her hand fell to the mattress.

“You did it for me?” I asked in awe.

“In the eventuality this came to happen, yes. What do you think? Do you like it? ‘Cause if you don’t, I can let it grow,”

“I don’t just like it,” I groaned wrapping my arms under her thighs, “I fucking love it!” I made a mental note to call Jo next port day, to both yell at her for  being so crass around the love of my life  (although she knows nothing about it), and thank her, for the inappropriate sexual advice.

Pulling her legs wider, my tongue dove to lap at her flesh hungrily taking her by surprise.

All she could do was scream, gasp and pant while pulling my hair hard, to keep grounded in the moment. My fingers plucked her nipples into puckered, hardened buds, and when she started thrashing, I moved my hand to her clit.

I was going to give her better than I did to Glimmer, because there was no room for anyone else but her anymore, and I had to erase every other woman she’d ever saw me with from both our minds.

With the first swipe of my thumb, she arched her back off the mattress. With the second pass, she cried out my name. With the third and fourth, her words were incomprehensible warbles; and with the fifth, she froze for a second, and then started to convulse violently under me.

Once I was able to free my head from the constricting trap of her clamped legs, she had come down from her height.

She gave a lazy, sated smile, running her fingers through my hair softly.

“Wow,” she breathed out.

“Was that good?” I kissed her inner thigh.

She nodded, “That was a million times better than my own massages. I think I’m gonna keep you.” She smiled, but then her lips started to fall.

“What’s wrong?” I scooted up her body, until I was laying next her, my torso and face hovering over hers, I caressed her face with my free hand.

She looked away, biting her lip that was quivering slightly. “I want to keep doing this with you, but I cannot share you with others.”

“You won’t,” I whispered dropping a kiss to her lips. “I’m all yours, I don’t want anyone else.”

“You promise?” She asked in a small voice.

“I swear!”

We kissed languidly, until we had to come up for air, then I asked, “Now that you have me, what are you going to do with me?” I gave her my patented ‘panty dropper’ smile and let my hand travel the length of her body as far as my arm could reach comfortably.

She giggled pulling me closer to her, “I think I’m gonna put you inside of me, or at least part of you anyway,”

_Fuck! This woman was even better than me at this game._

“Peeta… take me,” She demanded seriously.

  
“Right now?” I asked more than eager to comply.

She nodded, and her wish was my command, always.

I stood up and shed off my pants and underwear in one single swoop. If my dick had a face, it would’ve been grinning in gratitude. I had been ignoring it’s persistent throbbing, because this was all for Katniss, not my self centered cock.

I climbed back on the bed, she spread her legs for me, leaning up on her elbows. I kissed her when I reached her lips, and she wrapped her arms around my neck pulling me down on top of her.

“Are you sure?” I didn’t want her to regret anything, so I gave her time to be one hundred percent sure this was what she wanted, no matter how much I was aching for her.

“I’m sure. Make me yours,” she said breathlessly.

So I lowered myself into her, trembling and thanking The Almighty above but this wonderful moment. 

I had never had a virgin before.

Being with Katniss was an otherworldly experience on itself, but I have to agree, I had never had anyone as tight, vocal and sweet as her.

I pushed into her slowly, measuredly, making sure I was reading Katniss’ facial cues carefully as to not hurt her, but she was so wet and relaxed, I only found the slightest resistance at the very end, and the initial grimace of her face subsided a second later, she assured she was fine.

I tried to hold back, go slow, savor it, but she was squeezing me into her heat, so tightly, add to that the fact that the only released I’ve had was delivered by own hand for the last three to four weeks, there was no stopping my orgasm.

I rubbed her clit with my thumb again, capturing one of her nipples in my mouth. She curled her fingers into my hair, and sang my name over and over, until I couldn’t hear her over the blood rushing through my ears. I filled her up with cum chanting her name to the roof, something I have never done before with any other partner.

I practically fell head first into the hollow of her neck, buring my nose into hair.

It took me a minute to regain mobility of my arms. My right hand still trapped between our bodies. I resumed my movements over her bundle of nerves, and finished her off with myself still impaled in her heat before I went completely soft.

I will never forget the way her fingers curled against my shoulders or the scrape of her nails against my skin as she was at her peak. The way she called my name like it was a prayer she couldn’t stop reciting, or the way her beautiful face looked right before, during and after her orgasm. She was stunning!

I collapsed next her, throwing my arm over her middle and pulling her to my chest. She leaned into my embrace bonelessly.

When I woke up that morning, I never dreamed that by 7 pm, I was going to have Katniss Everdeen in my bed completely naked, writhing and chanting my name like there was no tomorrow as we both reached for the sky and touched the stars. 

Somewhere above us, people were sitting at their designated tables in the dining hall or at any of the onboard restaurants, eating steak or lobster thermidor, but I had something so much better for supper right there, next to me, and I planned to drink her juices again before the night was over.

“I don’t know who Finnick Odair is.” She mumbled against my chest. “I have no idea what does he have to do with all this either.”

I started laughing quietly, because I did mentioned Finnick earlier, and she had no idea of the context of my comment.

“Finnick will be your uncle’s replacement when he retires. He told me you’d be amazing, once I found you.” I kissed her forehead.

“Oh… okay.” She mumbled still confused.

“I’ll explain everything at a time we are not about to fall asleep. Let’s nap for now.”

And that was the last we said for the night.

 

* * *

 

Katniss and I were inseparable after our first night together.

We became officially a couple that very week. I introduced her to my family via Skype, and I got to meet her mother the same way, after Captain Abernathy gave me a decidedly terrifying ‘man-to-man’ speech.

All in all, the conversation with ‘Haymitch’- as he insists I call him- ended pretty well, with the old man hollering at his First Officer that his ‘ _nephew-in-law’-_ apparently _me-_ was bringing over a spirited Tiramisu- which I had not yet agreed to, I must stress- and to let everyone know NOT to touch it, unless they wanted a night in the brig. 

Everything was idyllic between Katniss and me, except for a few bleeps with Glimmer here and there, but she moved on after the third time she came around trying to flirt. 

Then came the kicker of the story! That first time we slept together, neither of us had paid any mind to the pesky detail of birth control, which brings us back to the present, where I’m standing in the devastating heat of the Caribbean in a tux, waiting for my bride.

As I plunged slow, deep and hard into my now wife-to-be, it never occurred to me that I would actually get her pregnant on her very first time. The thought didn’t even crossed my mind any subsequent time we did it after, when I actually remembered to cover up with a condom.

And this, boys and girls, is why you always wear prophylactics.

It turned out okay for us. We have each other, plus she said it best, “This would’ve happened anyway.”

Although, to be honest, meeting my  significant other’s mom in person for the first time, to inform/ask her blessing for our marriage, on the same day we announced we were expecting a child together, was an incredibly awkward conversation, especially with Haymitch’s dangerous eyes on me the whole time. 

I almost presented a notarized affidavit, as proof that I was in fact planning on asking  Katniss to marry me BEFORE we found out about the baby. Luckily, Mrs. Everdeen made Haymitch stop badgering me with all of his pointed questions.

I smile, back in the present. 

I look up as Prim takes her place as maid of honor, beaming with joy, and then my eyes find the gray irises I daydream about any given time of the day, as Katniss glides towards me, sporting a smirk.

I swear I’m gonna erase it with kisses when we’re alone.

The swell of her tummy is completely  noticeable under her flowy gossamer dress.

I feel like the luckiest bastard alive.

Now, I really hope I can stop meeting her family in this backward, unflattering  ways, but nobody said that happy endings can’t be a little messy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There are still countries trying to recuperate from last hurricane season in the Caribbean. Please, if you have the means, help with their relief.
> 
> Haiti has been ranked as the Poorest Country in the Western Hemisphere, with around 60-70% of their population living below Haiti’s poverty line. The country’s economy relays on International relief. If you ever find yourself in the position to volunteer or donate to Haiti or other countries in need, please do. We are all part of this world, and we can all do so much good if we put the effort forth.

**Author's Note:**

> Growing up in the Caribbean, and visiting it often in my adult, married life, this project hits my heart very closely. 
> 
> I wished I could have written about all of the deserving islands affected by the devastation of Maria and all her siblings that came after last hurricane season, places like Haiti, Turks and Caicos, even our own backyard on Key West, suffered damages, places like Puerto Rico are still struggling to get over it the destruction and rebuild, let alone have electricity and other services restore to them, but back when I write this story I was constricted by time and decided to feature one Island, and one beach in particular in this story. 
> 
> I truly feel it’s lost of the beach in question for my husband’s sake. Like Katniss, the beach wasn’t very big or particularly pretty, but it was my airline/airplane nut of a husband’s dream destination when were newlyweds, he wouldn’t shut up about it until we were standing with our toes digging it’s sand, and he lamented it being hit. To this day it’s his favorite place he visited, but now the beach lays wasted by both Maria’s and Irma’s wrath. So this is my farewell to Maho Beach, St. Maarten. You truly were a spectacular Caribbean treasure. 
> 
> Thank you ‘Love in Panem’ for hosting this commendable initiative, and thank you reader if you donated when this collection was privately publish, to the cause of humanity rebuilding after disaster. If you are just hearing of this, please send a prayer out for those still in the process of healing. May this year Mother Nature treats everyone better.
> 
> Come say hi alliswell21@tumblr


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